


The Secret Heart

by persephone_garnata



Series: Getting the Part [4]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Early Days, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Supernatural Convention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 06:22:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3757756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephone_garnata/pseuds/persephone_garnata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the early days of the show. Jensen and Jared are talking at a Supernatural convention, and the network has told them they should keep their relationship under wraps. But Jensen is worried he won't be able to pretend he and Jared are just good friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fallenforsupernatural](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenforsupernatural/gifts).



> This story was originally written as a standalone, but since finishing my series 'Getting the Part' about this pair, I thought it might actually work quite well as a fluffy little coda/timestamp so I've brought it under the same umbrella.

‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ Jensen said, flinging his arms up in the air and pacing up and down the same patch of the hotel room he’d already been over dozens of times. When he came back again to where Jared stood by the door, the other man took him gently by the elbows and held him still.  
‘Look at me, Jen,’ he said. Jensen raised his eyes to his face. ‘I know you can do it. Think of all those fans out there who love the show, who love us. Let’s go and make them happy.’  
Jensen sighed. ‘I know, I know – it’s just, I don’t see why we have to keep us a secret. Why can’t we tell everyone? It’s nothing to be ashamed of.’  
‘We’ve been through this, Jen. The network don’t think it would be appropri-’  
‘-ate because we’re playing brothers,’ Jensen finished for him. ‘Yeah, I know. They think it would freak out the fans. But come on, have you seen the stuff they’re putting on the net about Sam and Dean? I think the fans would love it.’  
Jared laughed, a little. ‘Yeah, you’re probably right, but you know what the network are like, and who pays our salaries?’  
Another sigh. ‘Fine,’ said Jensen. ‘But I’m just – I’m not sure how I can go up on stage in front of all those people and pretend you’re just my friend.’  
Jared laughed, a lot. ‘Remind me what you do for a living.’  
Jensen flushed, and looked down. ‘I’m an actor,’ he mumbled.  
Jared let go of his elbows and pulled him into a bear hug, squeezing him tight against his chest. ‘So act, you stupid, useless, gorgeous idiot.’  
‘You’re not helping, you know,’ said Jensen, his pulse quickening at the close contact. He moved back half a step, holding Jared a few inches away, and took a deep breath. ‘Right, I think I’m as ready as I’m going to get. We need to go down now, before my nerves fail me – or else I’m going to just collapse onto the bed, burrow under the covers, and refuse to come out for the rest of the day.’  
Jared grinned. ‘Later, my sweet, later.’  
Jensen, trying hard to ignore the pictures Jared had just planted in his mind, leaned up to kiss him on the mouth. Lips kept closed. For now.  
‘You know,’ he said with a rueful smile, ‘I never thought I’d have a boyfriend I had to reach up to kiss.’  
‘Deal with it, shortie,’ said Jared, and gave him a playful slap on the shoulder.

***

The convention panel went smoothly – for the first part of it, anyway. Jensen answered the questions as best he could, even the stupid ones, smiled a lot, remembered to sit up, speak up and look around the room so that all the fans got a glimpse of his face and heard his voice. He tried not to look at Jared, sitting right next to him, more than he had to – although if he never looked at him, that’d seem unnatural too, wouldn’t it? So perhaps just a glance – and another one – and oh wow he’d already forgotten in the five seconds since the last glance how beautiful he is, his hair and his eyes and the little dimple on his chin, his face as cute as a puppy but nothing puppyish about that Texan rancher’s body, long and lean and strong and… ok now you’re looking for too long gotta look someplace else over there that’s the fire exit sign look at the fans oh wow is that girl wearing a home-made ‘Sam heart Dean 4 ever’ T-shirt?  
‘What do you think, Jensen?’ asked the guy who was hosting the panel, Jensen couldn’t even remember his name.  
‘Huh, sorry, what?’ he said. A soft rumble of laughter went round the room, and he realized he’d completely not heard whatever it was he’d been asked.  
‘The question is,’ said the host, with a smile, ‘what’s your relationship like with your co-star?’  
‘Our… relationship?’ Jensen sat for a moment, thunderstruck. They knew already? But how? Had that last glance been just that few seconds too long to be platonic?  
‘It’s great,’ said Jared, cutting in, ‘we’re best buddies off screen, as well as brothers on screen.’  
Oh. Relationship doesn’t always mean a romance. Someone just wanted to know about their friendship. Probably. Jensen breathed a small sigh of relief – tinged with a tiny bit of disappointment – but still couldn’t find his tongue. Luckily, Jared kept going.  
‘Cause we’re both from Texas, we’ve got a lot in common,’ he said, and Jensen found himself nodding. It was perfectly true, after all. ‘And we share a house in Vancouver when we’re filming. We just really click, y’know? It makes doing the show so much more fun.’  
‘Oh, yes,’ Jensen managed to say, and to his immense relief, the host took another question from the audience, this one about the Metallicar. Safe ground. Phew.  
Jared didn’t look directly at him – which was just as well – but he did reach under the table, and take his hand. As Jensen talked about the Impala, he felt Jared’s thumb running over his palm, making a shape. A downwards stroke, on the diagonal, followed by an upwards stroke on the opposite diagonal, and then two semicircles, and back to the start.  
A heart, he realized, his own heart fluttering in response. A little secret heart just for him, in this room full of people, hidden by the table and the long white cloth. He didn’t look at Jared – he didn’t dare, in case he melted – but he did, as he spoke, put his other hand on the tabletop and trace a shape with his fingertip, hoping Jared would see the heart he was drawing in return. The light pressure of Jared’s hand squeezing his own before disengaging, the briefest flutter of fingers over his wrist, a promise for later, told him that he had.

**Author's Note:**

> My previous work for this pair, Collared, was too angsty for some. So I set myself the challenge of writing something super sweet and fluffy to make up for any emotional distress I caused. I hope this fits the bill!


End file.
